Datura metel
Linn.
Warty Thornapple, Angel’s Trumpet, Horn-of-plenty
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Summary
Source: WikipediaDatura metel is a shrub-like annual (zone 5–7) or short-lived, shrubby perennial (zone 8–10), commonly known in Europe as Indian thornapple, Hindu datura, or metel and in the United States as devil's trumpet or angel's trumpet. Datura metel is naturalised in all the warmer countries of the world. It is found notably in India, where it is known by the ancient, Sanskrit-derived, Hindi name dhatūra (धतूरा), from which the genus name Datura is derived. The plant is cultivated worldwide, both as an ornamental and for its medicinal properties, the latter being due to its tropane alkaloid content. Like its hardier and smaller-flowered relative Datura stramonium, it is now of widespread occurrence, although showing a preference for warmer, humid climates.
Description
A herb or short lived shrub. The leaves are large and oval. They have irregular edges. The flowers are long and trumpet shaped. They are light yellow or white. The fruit are rounded and have short thorns. POISONOUS.
Edible Uses
The leaves and roots are bruised, mixed with water, and left to stand for several hours. The liquid is then drawn off and drunk. This produces a highly narcotic, stupefying effect that is not easily reversed. Caution is advised given the plant's toxicity.
Traditional Uses
CAUTION: IT IS POISONOUS. The seeds are very poisonous. The active poisonous alkaloids are atropine, hyoscyamine and hyoscine. The leaves and roots have been used to make an alcoholic drink. They are bruised and mixed with water to ferment. Caution: Alcohol is a cause of cancer.
Medicinal Uses
The whole plant, particularly the leaves and seed, is anaesthetic, anodyne, antiasthmatic, antispasmodic, antitussive, bronchodilatory, hallucinogenic, hypnotic, and mydriatic. In India it is used in a wide range of applications including treatment of epilepsy, hysteria, insanity, heart diseases, fever with catarrh, diarrhoea, and skin diseases. A poultice of crushed leaves is applied to relieve pain. In China the plant is used to treat asthma, and in Vietnam dried flowers and leaves are cut into small pieces and used in antiasthmatic cigarettes. The plant contains the alkaloids hyoscyamine, hyoscine, and atropine. Total alkaloid content of the leaves is 0.426%, composed mainly of atropine. The seeds contain 0.426% alkaloids, mainly hyoscyamine. The roots contain 0.35% hyoscyamine. An extract of the flowers is used as an anaesthetic — 3–5g taken orally produces general anaesthesia within 5 minutes, lasting 5–6 hours. Atropine dilates the pupils and is used in eye surgery. Excess doses cause hallucinations, severe intoxication, and death; the toxic dose is very close to the medicinal dose, so this plant should only be used under the guidance of a qualified practitioner.
Known Hazards
All parts of Datura plants contain dangerous levels of highly poisonous tropane alkaloids meteloidine and its angelate ester and datumetine and may be fatal if ingested by humans or other animals, including livestock and pets. In some places, it is prohibited to buy, sell, or cultivate Datura plants. Datura metel may be toxic if ingested in a tiny quantity, symptomatically expressed as flushed skin, headaches, hallucinations, and possibly convulsions or even a coma. The principal toxic elements are tropane alkaloids. Ingesting even a single leaf can lead to severe side effects. The Thugs, gangs of professional robbers and murderers who wandered the roads of central India, would sometimes use preparations of Datura metel to stupefy the rich merchants whom they favoured as victims, before strangling or stabbing them. The English word thug traces its roots to the Hindi ठग (ṭhag), which means 'swindler' or 'deceiver'. Accounts of the Thugs written by early 19th century colonial authors tend to evoke an orientalist fantasy of a bloodthirsty (quintessentially) Hindu cult offering human sacrifices to the goddess Kali, while modern scholars tend to perceive the reality of Thuggee to have been more a matter of criminal activity undertaken for gain by organised groups of disaffected and recently unemployed soldiers of both Hindu and Muslim faith.There were also occasional reports, from the earliest times, of gangs [i.e. criminal gangs active long before the advent of Thuggee] who poisoned their victims with Datura, which was commonly used by many Indian highway robbers to stupefy their victims. It seems to have been used [by the Thugs] only intermittently. One Thug described this technique of using the drug as the tool of "mere novices", implying that an experienced strangler should have no need of such an aid to murder.
Distribution
A tropical plant. In XTBG Yunnan.
Where It Grows
Africa, Asia, Australia, China, East Africa, Guiana, Guianas, India, Indochina, Laos, Malaysia, Marquesas, Nepal, Pacific, SE Asia, South America, Suriname, Thailand, Vietnam, Zambia,
Cultivation
Prefers a rich light sandy soil and an open sunny position. Grows best in a fertile calcareous soil. This species is extremely susceptible to the various viruses that afflict the potato family (Solanaceae), it can act as a centre of infection so should not be grown near potatoes or tomatoes. There are a number of named varieties selected for their ornamental value. The flowers have an exotic fragrance, though the bruised leaves have an unpleasant smell. This species is closely related to D. innoxia.
Propagation
Sow seed in individual pots in early spring in a greenhouse, placing 3 or 4 seeds per pot and thinning to the strongest plant if needed. Seed usually germinates in 3–6 weeks at 15°C. Plant out in late spring or early summer after the last expected frosts. In areas with hot summers, an outdoor sowing in situ in mid to late spring is also worth trying.
Other Uses
None known.
Other Information
It is cultivated.
Notes
There are 10 Datura species.
Synonyms
Also Known As
Dhaturo, Lampong
References (18)
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- Dashorst, G.R.M., and Jessop, J.P., 1998, Plants of the Adelaide Plains & Hills. Botanic Gardens of Adelaide and State Herbarium. p 128
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